Sunny Sunny Smiles and Sunflowers...and some new stamps too!

Hello there.
Well, I hope you have had chance to make the most of the beautiful day we have had today, it's certainly made a change from what the recent days have been like. we spent a lovely day yesterday down on Hastings seafront....I had to work as usual first thing, but then came home, changed and off we went before it got too busy. We had a smashing time floating in and out the little old shops down in old Town and along the seafront into the amusement arcades....and then enjoyed hot dogs, chips and Dale and Chloe also had some fresh doughnuts!


The sky was absolutely beautiful and I thought I really should take some shots of Chloe's sunflowers that she has grown this year ( I guess I really should have taken photos of its growth progress all along the way...oh well, maybe next year eh LOL!)
Here is one of the blooms, there are 4 more that are starting to open too....I really loved the contrast of the bright yellow against the stunning blue of the sky.

Later in the evening i was scouting through my photo files and found this one of my gorgeous little nephew, Joshua.....and was struck by the similarity between the 2 photos....well, apart from the fact that he hasn't got a deeply tanned face and leaves LOL. He is such a happy little soul and gives the sunniest of smiles bless him.


I thought I would share this new card with you too. I popped up to the Glitter Pot the other day and took my lovely Mum along for the ride as she hasn't been to the new location yet. After having seen Liz's beautiful cards on her blog and also the stunning examples at the Glitter Pot I actually bought myself a set of stamps!!!!! And, more unlike me....I actually got them out and used them THE VERY SAME DAY!!!!!!!

So this is my first card using them....and I have to say i really like it...it makes a change from the other cards I normally do. I coloured the image with my Promarkers and then added some Stickles to finish it off.

Right, that's it from me tonight....I need to pop up to the shops and grab some strawberries, melons and other bits as I am determined we WILL get a day at the beach tomorrow befor ehte girls go back to school on Thursday....it's supposed to be a nice day again, so keep your fingers crossed! Then tomorrow evening and Thursday evening I have classes at Jills ( Cardinal Colours) to look forward too......I can't wait!.xxx

Warmest wishes Anita..xxx

OOooopsss! I forgot a birthday.....

Karen....I am so sorry I forgot.......Happy HAPPY Birthday girly.....proper card to follow when I see you on thursday (grovel grovel)..xxxxx

Beach Belle *Bo Bunny*

Hello there.....

Well...I have to say I cannot remember the last time I made a double layout! But here is one that I thought Iwould share. I have used one of the newer releases from Bo Bunny...its from the Sun Kissed Collection and is GORGEOUS!!!! Such a lush mix of colours...and so very easy to work with.

The sunshine and rays is printed on one of the papers and made it so easy to cut out and place where required and I just cut the photos down to the sizes I wanted to fit the pages. Quite a few parts are raised with foam pads and I have used small dollops ( techincal term that ;) lol) of Glossy Accents on the 3 little squares in parts to highlight and give interest to the objects in them...actually it looks almost like they are enamalled( sorry, I know it doesn;t show in the photo).
The strips across the base of the page are sliced and rolled at alternate heights

and I finished it all off with a string of bunting that joined the 2 pages together. The photos were taken at Walton on the Naze last year when we were there on our hols....and it was really lovely...eventually....when the tide went out...... and there was actually some beach to sit on LOL.

Right, I am off to bed...totally tired out......enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone :)

warmet wishes Anita..xxxxx

The Cherry On Top!

I feel so lucky.......I have been awarded this lovely Cherry On Top Award, not once, but twice in a couple or so days...from 2 very lovely ladies....so a heartfelt THANK YOU to both Sarah and also Sheleen for bestowing this kind award on me. Please take the time to visit these lovely ladies blogs and see their wonderful creations...its well worth it and I always find it a real pleasure.

Now, there are a few things I have to do now upon accepting this kind award.

1). To thank the lovely ladies who awarded it to me....yep, done that :)

2). Pop the given award onto my blog.....Yep, there it is ^^^, worn with pride :)

3). I must list 3 things about myself.....ok...here goes.

:- I am a Big Brother fan...I just LOVE it! Yes I know its car crash tv and each year I say " I am so NOT going to get sucked in by it!"....but guess what? i DO lol!!! And I am already starting to suffer withdrawal symptoms now that its all over ( except for the celebs bit and I am bored with that already!)

:- I am scared of the dark.....amongst other things....and trees( well woods to be precise), so if you put the 2 together it's not a good place for me to be!

:- I cannot wait for the winter to arrive...I just ADORE being cold, I love frosty mornings and I really enjoy being out and about with my camera and capturing some shots. Don't get me wrong, the summer is nice for going out, but I really don't like being hot...there is nothing nicer than being cold and then snuggling up in a layers of warm jumpers or a thick fluffy duvet.

4). Post a picture that I love.......jeez, I have hundreds and hundreds....but let's go with this one.

I know its a bit of a cop out, but, its got something of everything that I love... my family!


5). And lastly, I need to pass this award onto some other lovely ladies whose blogs hold something special...now I know the rules say 5....but...I have a few more lol. So, here they are....... and the awards are sent with lots of love

Lynn Jo Linda

Karen Jill Liz

Jakey Sarah Karen

so there we go...all done....Thanks again Sheleen and Sarah, I am chuffed to bits with my awards..xxxx

Baby on Board...and other cute critters!

Hello there. :)
I keep meaning to post these photos from a day out we had a week or so ago. We live local to a lovely small animal zoo and play park called Drusillas and for several years we all had annual membership, which we made good use of. We haven't renewed them however for the last couple of years and so hadn;t been for a long time. So, we decided to pay them a visit....and what a wonderful day we had!

There has obviously been something in the air as there were several new babies to be seen inc flamingoes, meerkats, prairie dogs and these little fella's in the next few photos.
There has been a lot of work done on the zoo and its made a real difference. There are now huge viewing windows all around the squirrel monkey enclosuure and it was such fun to see these cute little characters at play. This teeny little baby was so adorable and had to grip on tight whilst Mummy was bounding around and climbing up and down all over the place

This little cutey is a baby Sulawesi black crested macaque and is one of 2 that have recently been born there.Black crested macaques are native to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi where they are now regarded as critically endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). In the last 40 years it is estimated that the population has been reduced by more than 80% due to habitat loss and hunting pressure and they now face a very real threat of extinction in the wild........ isn't that just so sad :( They reminded me of little old gentlemen lol.
These tiny little creatures are Silver Marmosets.The baby was born on the 26th Feb and is now thriving under the watchful guidance of proud parents Captain Jack and Hester. Silvery marmosets are native to the forests of Central and South America where the population is declining mainly due to habitat destruction and the pet trade. The group at Drusillas is part of a European breeding programme.
Sorry the photo isn;t all that great, its really hard to try and capture these little guys, they are soooo fast!

The racoons are just adorable....and I couldn;t tell if this one was asleep or just shy lol!

Next we strolled around and came across some Fennec Foxes. these are pretty little creatures with tiny facial features.....but as you can see they have THE hugest of ears! Triplets were born on 19th March, the arrival of the cute canines is a real achievement. Not only is this the first time that fennec foxes have been successfully bred at the zoo, they are also believed to be the first litter born in Europe in 2010 and the only surviving cubs in the UK since 2008.That is quite an achievement isn't it!

My oh my Chloe.....WHAT BIIIIIG EARS you have!!!





Another new feature that has been built in the park is Eden's Eye which is a maze adventure where you go in search of the ledgendary treasure....a golden apple! As you can see.....I found it he!he!he!

And on the way towards the exit of the zoo I discovered this pair of strange creatures.....Hmmmm, now i am sure one of them is quite familiar!

Halloween Blog Candy

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning this selection of Halloween stash, all you need to do is pop over to Scrapology and comment on this post and make sure you are a follower of the blog. The winner will be drawn out of a 'hat' and announced on next Monday evening - 30th August. If you have a blog, please add a link to this month's challenge.



and what a corker of a candy it is too! How great would it be to win this and have it all ready for this years Halloween celebrations, there really is everything you could need to make some fab layouts or maybe a mini album. The candy contains none other than :

Papers from Basic Grey's Eerie collection, Making Memories, Karen Foster and Reminisce. Cardstock form Coredinations and Bazzill. Stickers from Jolee's Boutique, Doodlebug Design, EK Success, Sandylion and Bo Bunny. Various ribbons, some themed, some plain, black lace and fibres. Buttons, themed and plain. Charms, brads, and eyelets. In addition Halloween die cuts from QuicKutz and Cricut, with words numbers and images.

How fantastic is that! So, go on, get yourself over to Scrapology and enter to win, we would love to see you.....what have you got to lose? And whilst you are there have a looky at our August challenge...we would LOVE to see you create a layout and upload to the competition, there is a brilliant prize this month.

Warmest wishes Anita..x

Flutterby Wishes...

Hello there :)....I hope you are having a great weekend so far? Well, better than I have been having anyway LOL. It started last night....after spending the whole day sorting out stuff for a garden sale and totally shifting all the furniture round in the lounge( and hurting my blinking back!!) I then went on to accidently flood a fair portion of our kitchen :(. I started to run the water in the sink for the washing up and popped in the lounge....then I got side tracked.......ooooops!

A little while later I walked back into the kitchen......to see water and bubbles streaming out from the cupboards under the sink...all across the worktops and dripping down through each set of drawers....and all across the carpet :( :(....!"!??!*!!

....and so BEGAN THE MASS EXODUS OF ALL ITEMS FROM SAID CUPBOARDS!!!!!!
Today the carpet is still sodden....BUT the cupboards are nice and shiny inside....NOT impressed and very angry with myself....Ho!Hum!!!! And it was wet and horrid this morning so no garden sale either.....and now the nicely shifted round lounge is full of boxes and bags of *stuff*....so maybe we will try tomorrow....weather permitting.

Anyway, enough of soggy things....I thought I would share a card I made the other day with some left overs from a layout. Its bits and scraps of Scenic Route, some bazzill, a prima blossom, some bling and some lush lime lace from my lovely blogging friend Sarah ( thanks Hun :) )

The flutterbys are double layed and punched from cardstock and a layer of vellum, their bodies are made from wire and beads and the left over wire is twirled to make the antennae.

DON'T FORGET YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO GET YOUR ENTRY IN FOR THIS MONTHS CHALLENGE OVER AT SCRAPOLOGY......AND THERE IS A FABULOUS PRIZE KINDLY DONATED BY JILL AT CARDINAL COLOURS......GO ON...YOU KNOW YOU WANT TOO!!!!

*Boot*iful bargains...and a card!

Over the weekend I was chuffed to bits to pick up some prettiful things AND finish a card I had started at the last crop. On Saturday I took the girls and we trundled off down to the New Forest to pick up my Mum, she had spent a lovely week with one of my Aunts who live down there. Anyway...as we drove into the little village they live in we saw a sign for a Garage Sale a few doors down....well, it would have been rude not to have gone and had a rummage wouldn't it???? So thats what we did.....Lauren came home with a huge excercise stepper machine! Chloe found some odds and ends she liked and then proceeded to win lots of bits and bobs on the tombola....and I discovered a gorgeous silver brooch with some lovely blue stone cabouchons on it which I just HAD to have. Then as we were about to leave I spotted some fabulously pretty and delicate cotton lace doilies...a set of 6...and at the bank breaking price of.....50p!!!!!! I have plans for them he!he!he!

We had a lovely trip home and then on Sunday we trotted off to a local boot sale, where I found a really lovely old fashioned cut glass cake stand, a real bargain at £1.50( I soon soaked it in vinegar at home and had it sparkling!). A few stalls along I came across a flower display in a porcelain basket( which was a bit tacky tbh), but I loved the flowers ( they are very much like Prima stylee). I asked how much, to be told £2.50. Well, I liked the flowers, but not £2.50 much of niceness there for me I'm afraid. So I went to walk away saying Oh, I only really wanted the flowers...and the woman piped up and said "£1 for the flowers and then I can still sell the basket"...Deal done!! I beheaded all 8 of them from their wirey stems as soon as I got home and they will be appearing on some layouts before long I suspect.

So we headed into the last row of stalls and I saw some sparkling sequins poking out of a brown box. When I pulled it out I found it was a gorgeous belt made of various medallions of sequin each of the medallionss and embroidered flowers edged with delicate gold stitches, the seller let me have it for 50p..I couldn't believe my luck. So I am now separating each of the medallions and tucking them away safe for just the right page to come along....so a fruitful weekend it has to be said! I just love a bargain...don't you?
I also snatched a few minutes to finish this card that I had originally started at the last crop at Cardinal Colours

The image was very kindly given to me by my lovely friend Lynn ( thanks Hunxx)
The papers are from the Papermania Capsule collection and the bow is made from crochet ribbon. Linda very kindly gave me a goody bag last month to try and kick my mojo and those lush larger blossoms and crystal flower were in it ( Thanks to you too Linda.xx) Ahhh yes and I used quite a bit of Stickles too ;)

Right, thats it from me...just to say don't forget about your chance to win a superb prize over at The Scrapology Blog you still have time to create your page and get it to us either by linking to your blog post of it or indeed emailing it ( all details on the blog)....so what are you waiting for...come on and join in the fun! We would love to see you there.

Warmest wishes Anita..xxx

A is for...An AMAZING Prize!

And it could be yours!!!

Over at Scrapology we are having this months challenge....which is A is for Aperture and I am so thrilled that one of my layouts is being used for the inspiration this time ( just wait and see what awesome lifts you have coming up in later months from other scrappers)....anyway, we are so lucky that our lovely friend Jill of Cardinal Colours has so generously offered this fabulous prize for the August challenge... its a 'Craft Mates Ezy Locking Caddy' and is the perfect solution for storing all your small embellies etc.





and not just that, oh no, she is that generous that she will be providing a fabulous prize each month for one lucky winner whose layout we like best ( prize winner will be chosen by the scrapper whose layout provided the original inspiration....eeek, that's me this month then lol!)

So, all you have to do is create and enter your layout and we would love it if you became a follower of the blog. So come on, join us, have some fun creating AND maybe you will be the lucky winner.



Warmest Wishes Anita..xxx

Summer Sunshine.....

Hello there..... due to the lack of proper summer sunshine over the last few days here I thought I should post this layout that I made a few weeks ago. The photo was taken on a family holiday a few years ago at Tenby, what a beautiful place that is, one day we would love to return there.

I have used Scenic Route papers from the Grafton collection from Papermaze and based it onto a sheet of bazill. Then all I had to do was a little tearing, inking, scrunching and rolling.

And finish the page off with a few buttons, Junkitz photo anchorz ( Cardinal Colours ) crystals, Prima blossoms, paper cherry blossom, punched butterflies and a decorative pin that I added beads too

....oh yes...and some Doodlebug alpha stickers that I had left over on a sheet.

Ahhhhh.....to be back in Tenby now....I wish!

Have a lovely day...

Warmest Wishes Anita..xxxx

And we are off!.......

Today sees the launch of the Scrapology blog and we hope you will pop along and see what we are about...and hopefully decide to join in :)
I am thrilled to say that Lynn chose one of my layouts for the first months inspiration, which is 'A is for Aperture.' This is the original layout I created here



and this is my scraplift version of it. It did feel a little odd lifting my own page and I decided to put a different spin on it by using semi-circles instead of starbust points and also by using one oversized photo and interlinking it with a second smaller one.....


I used some older stash which was quite good fun and it got me rummaging through my boxes and discovering some good old favourites( scenic route) that I think will be appearing over the coming months ( I am sure we are guilty of having a small stash mountain, you know the kind...filled with papers that we just HAD to have at the time and then didn't use!)
I coloured some clear crystal swirls using my Promarkers to achieve the colour I wanted and also added some Prima blooms and E-line Pearls.

The Starburts are so easy to make and can be made in ANY size, to start with all you need to do is choose your photo and find something to either draw round, or if you have a compass use that.... and then decide what portion of the photo you want to see through the aperture. Its best if you use double sided paper or you can use cardstock ( otherwise when you peel back the points you will get plain white showing if you use just single sided paper
)
Once the size aperture is chosen you need to decide where on your layout you want them to appear, remembering that once you cut and peel back you need to have allowed space for the turnovers.

Take your circle and divide it into a pie shape with 8 sections....

then simply slice the lines and peel back the sections....









and pop your photo behind.


And that's it! We would simply LOVE to see your take on this theme.You can link to your blog, or email us with your LO.
Details on the blog --- Scrapology --- come and check us out.

thanks for taking the time to look

warmest wishes Anita.xx

An Exciting New Adventure....and a little sneak peek.

Hello there, I hope you are having a wonderful weekend? Its certainly hot and humid down here on the south coast and we are being invaded by lots and lots of pesky wasps! I have been to a local bootie this morning and they were EVERYWHERE! People were getting stung left, right and centre....horriible! Anyway....onto our exciting news!

Tomorrow sees the official launch of a brand new blog....its called Scrapology - Adventures in Scrapbooking...and is the baby of my very lovely friend Lynn . I am honoured and totally thrilled to be part of her design team, which is an amazing bunch of very friendly and talented ladies, please do pop along to their blogs and see for yourselves. Scrapology is going to be a place where hopefully you will find your mojo ( especially, if like mine, it had recently gone astray lol), we hope to provide monthly inspiration for scrapbookers by providing scraplifting challenges, sketches and samples. It will be somewhere to share ideas and encourage each other to use different techniques along the way.

We hope that you will visit us and join in with this new adventure....
I thought I would just pop this little sneaky peek here of one of my first versions of a scraplift, so why not pop along and become a follower and come play with us!

Thank you so much Lynn for asking me to be part of your DT, I am so looking forward to this!

Good Enough To Eat?

At last I have got round to scrapping this photo of my eldest girly and her very best friend, they were having a sleepover and beauty treatment evening at our house and I think the chocolate face masks were amongst the favourite things they used….how could I NOT take a pic of that!


I made this layout using lush papers from the ‘In Bloom’ range from My Little Shoebox and added a couple of sheets of bazill cardstock. I made the spiral roses and then scrunched them down as I didn’t want them to be too ‘uniform’ and sliced and rolled up the lower border across the page. The title was cut using an old sizzlet alphabet and my lil ol’ Sidekick, then I covered the letters in Glossy accents( it actually looks really nice in real life, almost like an enamel, but I can never seem to capture it in a photo lol)



My Little Shoebox are really lovely quality papers, each range comes with a die cut scalloped edge circle paper, die cuts, and more recently with lovely letter stickers, mini alphas and even some overlays. They are so nice to work with and there are several different themes that they cover, check out the MLS blog. there is some absolutely stunning work on there, so inspirational.

Right, off to do some work on an exciting new venture that I am honoured to be have been asked to be part of….more on that soon. Have a lovely day

…. Warmest Wishes Anita..xxxx

All Cream Tea'd Out!

Hello there......I am back ( bet you didn't even miss me lol) We have had a fabulous week away in Devon( think lush cream teas and lots of Volkswagon Camper Vans) and now I am back to the reality of a mountain of washing and ironing….and very early mornings come Monday :(….. But whilst we were away we had some wonderful days out and saw some beautiful places ( not just the inside of EVERY clothes shop and shopping arcade we passed ( for Lauren of course he!he!he!)
I will catch up properly as soon as I can, but for now I am just going to bore you with a mix of photos from various places :)